If you're looking for a beach getaway, while still being in a city with great night life, Nha Trang is the place to be. Just a few minutes walk away from most hotels, is a white sandy beach.

Things to do

Nha Trang Beach

If you're looking for a quiet and isolated beach, you're going to be disappointed. This beach is located beside a busy street in the city. But if you're just looking to relax a bit, catch some sun and swim in the waves, then it should do the trick. The beach has chairs and umbrellas that are priced at 35,000 dong for the day.

Since this is an urban beach, it's usually filled with tourists and can get pretty crowded. If you walk down the path beside the beach, you'll come across exercise equipment and a beautiful French-inspired garden.

Vinpearl Land

If you sit on the beach, you'll notice a sign across the water that says "Vinpearl." It's actually an amusement park and resort island that's quite popular. To access the park, you'll need to take the cable car, that owns the Guinness world record for longest sea-crossing cable car system at 3,320 metres.

The park costs 600,000 dong to access, which includes the cabe car ride. It has rides, a water park, aquarium and shows. It's perfect for the family or if you're a kid at heart. Note that the water park closes at 5:30 p.m., so head there first.

Po Nagar Cham Towers

Located within Nha Trang, and potentially walkable (depending where you're staying), are these four brick towers built by the Cham civilization. You can enter the towers, but make sure to dress appropriately - shoulders and knees covered. There's an entrance fee of 22,000 dong.

Where to Eat

Hai San (Seafood) Restaurants

If you walked down the street by the beach, you'll notice a bunch of restaurants selling live sea creatures from eel and shrimp to oysters and clams. It's priced by weight, so you can pick and choose a variety of options. Just be careful as we've heard of people upping the price when you pay. We heard the best restaurants are on the other side of the bridge, close to the fishing villages.

Since it's fresh seafood, it's priced a little high for someone on a budget. But it's definitely cheaper than what you'd pay back home.

Nem Nuong Ninh Hoa

Nem nuong is grilled pork sausage which is eaten by wrapping it in fresh greens and rice paper. Essentially, you're making your own fresh spring roll. Start by order one "phan" or portion (40,000 dong/portion) and go from there. It comes with fresh vegetables, rice paper, nem nuong, fried rice paper for the crunch and an orange sauce.

If you walk down Nguyen Thi Minh Khai street for about 5 - 10 minutes, you'll find a big restaurant on your left side.

This was one portion.

Banh Can

This street food is a mini savoury fried pancake made from grilled rice flour. Usually there's a quail egg in it and it's eaten with nuoc mam (sweet and salty dipping sauce).

Nuoc Mia

Sugar cane juice! This is a delicious drink made with pressed sugar cane and lime. It's usually sold for 5,000 dong if you walk down Nguyen Thi Minh Khai street.

Com (Rice)

For a tasty rice dish, look for a restaurant that has BBQ meats on display. You can choose your meats and they'll make a dish for you. There's a local restaurant on Nguyen Thi Minh Khai street that offers this. I got com suon, op-la (rice with pork chop and fried egg) which comes with a small soup for 30,000 dong.

Where to Stay

Mojzo Inn

We originally wanted to stay here because it had good reviews. It's a backpacker-friendly place with also offers free breakfast, just minutes away from the beach. Unfortunately, it was fully booked.

Saint Paul Hotel

Instead, we stayed at Saint Paul Hotel. It was $15 USD for a private room, which ended being the nicest place we stayed at so far. It came with two double beds in a spacious room and a very clean washroom. Although, the Wi-fi was a little spotty. It was in a good location just a few minutes from the beach.